In the early days of live and recorded music, small combo amplifiers were all that were available to the guitar players of the world. Most of these initial amplifiers did not even break the 35 watt barrier until the need arose for large arena shows. With these large venues came the creation of amplifiers boasting 100 watts of ear spliting power (or more).
While these large scale amplifiers have become a mainstay for big shows, they are still considered by many engineers and players to be too big for the studio. Most people familiar with tube amplifiers know that the amplifier needs to reach a certain gain threshold before the tone really begins to shine. This is why quality low watt tube amplifiers are more appropirate for recording since it is easier to drive them to their maximum potential in smaller rooms at volumes that won't shatter glass.
I recently received a Crate 30 watt Palomino V32 class “A” tube amplifier for review. While it may still be a little bigger than most engineers would like, it is a good all-purpose amp for the player who is gigging at small venues or micing up to a P.A. in addition to studio work, and only wants to deal with one amplifier. Read on for our thoughts on the Palomino!
The Palomino Series is a very sharp looking amplifier line. Covered in cream colored tolex, with gold hardware and trim, the V32 exudes a vintage vibe that evokes thoughts of classic rock. The brass top mounted control panel with its gold dome knobs looks very classy and just begs you to dial in your favorite tones. A quick look at the control panel revealed straight forward features for a this two channel amp. There is a single input jack for your guitar. Clean volume, Overdrive Gain and Gain Level knobs give you the flexibility to control the separate channels independently. Both channels however share the same three band EQ for Low, Mid, and High frequencies. A boost button gives you 10dB of boost at 900Hz for those times you need to punch through a heavy mix. In addition, the presence button adds to the tone shaping feature set, especially for generating well defined lead tones. The top panel is rounded out by an illumination lamp when power is on as well as the standby and power switches.
The Palomino V32 weighs in at 44 lbs, and has a fairly small footprint making it perfect for small stages. In fact, the only down side I found during my inspection was that the tubes are hard to access, making tube changes challenging when the time comes to replace or mod the amp.
Features at a glance:
• Class A 30W
• 4 - El-84 power tubes
• 3 - 12AX7A preamp tubes
• Spring reverb
• Clean/overdrive switch
• Boost switch
• Bass, mid, treble, and presence tone controls
• 12" speaker
No comments:
Post a Comment